NCAA Division I National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men

In the most recent rankings, released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), Florida, Oregon and LSU are still the top-3 teams — as they have been since the debut of the rankings in early January.

The biggest change occurred at No. 4, where Virginia is now situated after soaring from No. 12 last week. This is the best ranking in program history for the Cavaliers, topping its previous best of 9th set in Week 1.

Arkansas rounded out the top-5 after falling from No. 4. The Razorbacks have been a mainstay in the top-5, having been ranked there in 44 of the past 48 weeks.

FROM THE INFOZONE

The story of the rankings this week is Virginia’s rise from 12th to 4th. The Cavaliers were buoyed by the efforts of Zach Herriott and Jordan Scott this past weekend. Herriott ran 13:45.37 over 5000 meters and moved up to 5th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings. Scott bounded 16.36m (53-8¼) in the triple jump and is now 6th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings.

Texas Tech moved up from No. 14 to No. 12 after Charles Brown added the vertical jump to his arsenal that already included horizontal jumps. Brown is ranked 10th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings in the high jump with a clearance of 2.20m (7-2½) and is already in the top-15 in the long jump.

Colorado broke into the top-20 for the first time since Week 3 of 2016 and did so after three of its milers blistered the track this past weekend. Ben Saarel, Joe Klecker and Zach Perrin are now ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the Individual Rankings.

UTEP came in at No. 19 as its half-mile duo of Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni moved up the pack this past weekend. Korir is No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings, while Saruni — also a freshman — is 4th.

This was the final week that marks from the past seasons were used to make up the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings. Starting next week, those past marks will be dropped and the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings will match up with the NCAA Division I Men’s National Descending Order Lists.

Remember: The 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held March 10-11 in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M.